Dry-plate holder and envelope



(No Model.)

0. H. SOOFIELD. DRY PLATE HOLDER AND ENVELOPE.

N0.'268,297. Patented Nov. 28, 1882..

" CHARLES H. SOOFIELD,

PATENT Oriucn.

OF UTIGA, NE\V YORK.

DRY-PLATE HOLDER AND ENVELOPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,297, dated November 28, 1882,

Application filed June 23, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. SooFmLD, of Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Dry-Plate Holder and Envelope, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved envelope for dry-plates used in photography, which envelope is to be used as a cover for the plates and as a plate-holder in the camera, thus permitting the operator to dispense with the camera plate-holding frames; and to this end the invention consists in the peculiarconstruction and arrangement ofparts, as hereinafter fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a groundglass plate and frame of a camera, to which plate one of my improved dry-plate envelopes is held, parts being shown broken out, and the slide of the dry-plate envelope being shown partly withdrawn. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my improved dry-plate envelope, showing the slide partly withdrawn. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a cap placed over the corners of the dry-plate envelope for holding the plate in the same.

A frame,A, adapted to slide in the rear part of the camera, is provided with rabbets in one surface along the inner edges, whereby a recess is formed which is adapted to receive a ground-glass plate, 13, such as are ordinarily used for focusing the camera. The depth of the rabbets is greater than the thickness of the glass plate B, so that when a dry-plate contained in an envelope is passed under this ground-glass plate '13 the upper edge of the ground-glass plate will be flush with the upper surface-of the frame A. This ground-glass plate B is surrounded by a frame, B, and is provided at one end witha loop, hook, or lug, O, for raising the plate B.

To the outer surface of each side bar of the frame A a spring-strip, D, is attached at one end, and at its opposite end this spring-strip is provided with a spring-arm, D, which has its end slightly curved, this arm projecting in the inverse direction of the strip D, and being adapted to rest on the frame B placed within the frame A, as is shown in Fig. 1, and thus holdingthisi'rameB\vithintheframeA. lt'desired, other devices-such as pivoted levers may be used for the same purpose; but the springs are preferred.

The rabbets in the side bars of the frame A are each provided at theinnerends with a recess, E, in the bottom, which recesses are adapted to receive caps F, placed on the corners of the dry-plate envelope Gr, so that these caps will not cause the corners of the dry-plate envelope to project higher than the other parts. The envelope G is made of black or other colored paper, card-board, rubber cloth, oil-cloth, or any other light and flexible material through which the light cannot pass. The back of the envelope is closed and the front is provided with a large opening, which can be closed by a slide, H, made ot'the same or like material as the envelope, and provided atits npperend with a flap, H, which serves to seize and hold the plate. This slide or cover H is adapted to slide in grooves formed by two strips, J J, of paper or other material of which the envelope is madeat the sides and bottom of the opening in the front of the envelope. The edges of the bottom guid e-grooves formed by the strips J J are inclined from the sides of the opening toward the middle of the bottom, so that these bottom grooves will be inclined toward each other. The lower end of the slide El will thus pass into the groovein the bottom of the opening at the outer ends before it enters at the middle of this bottom groove, whereby the lower end of the slide will be guided and a closejoint is secured, This slide His provided at its lower end with a tongue, H, which is bent upward and catches on the upper crosspiece above the opening in the envelope when the slide is withdrawn, which prevents withdrawing the slide completely from the envelope.

At the end of the front side of the envelope a flap, K, is formed, which is iolded down on the back of the envelope after the dry-plate L has been inserted, and this flap and the dryplate are held in place by the caps F, which are then passed over the corners of the envelope, as shown in Fig.3. These caps do not interfere with removing the slide or cover H. The strips J, the cover H, the flap K, and the caps F keep the envelope so well closed that no light can ever enter the same, and the dryplate in this envelope will be perfectly protected.

The operation is as follows: The dry-plates are packed in envelopes G, in the laboratory, or are packed in these envelopes by the manufacturer, as may be desired, ready for transportation. The operator takes the required number of plates packed in envelopes G, and after focusing by means of the ground-glass plate B, he passes or slides one of the envelopes G, containing a dry-plate, under the groundglass plate B, which plate B and envelope G are held in place in the frame A by the pressure ot' the spring-arms D D on the frame of the plate B. The envelope G must be passed under the plate B in such a manner that the opening in the envelope faces toward the inside or front of the camera. Then, it' the picture is to be taken, the slide H is withdrawn, the dry-plate is exposed, the slide H is replaced or pushed back again, and the envelope G is removed; the ground glass again resumes its position for focusing, and another envelope may be placed under the ground-glass plate B, and so on. The exposed plates are then taken to the dark-room and developed, fixed, and finished in the ordinary manner. Thus a plate-holder belonging to the camera is not required, and the frame B serves as a holder for the focusing-plate and for the dry-plate.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a dry-plate envelope, of the flap K, for closing the opening through which the plate is admitted, and of the caps F, adapted to be placed on the corners of the envelope for holding this flap closed, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the dry-plate euvelope G, of the sliding cover H, the flap K, and the caps F, adapted to be placed on the corners of the envelope, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The frame A, provided with rabbets in the outer surface along the inner edges, combined with the springs D D, for holding the glass plates in the recess formed by these rabbets, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. The frame A, provided with rabbcts in the outer surface along the inner edges, which rabbets have recesses E in their bottoms at the outer end of the frame,substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose of receiving the caps 1* of the envelope Gr.

5. The combination, with the dry-plate envelope G, provided with an opening in its front side, of the slide H and the tongue H, formed at the lower end of the slide, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

CHAS. ll. S00 Fl I lil').

Vituesses:

OSCAR F. GUNZ, U. SEDGWroK. 

